So I heard that FATES WARNING singer Ray Alder had joined some band he had produced recently. When I got this disc for review, I was pleasantly surprised to see him pictured on the back cover. As a FATES WARNING fan since the 'Awaken The Guardian' era, my interest is usually sparked by their various side projects.

The band REDEMPTION is the brainchild of guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter Nick Van Dyk (pronounced 'Dyke' and not 'Dick', or at least I hope so). Basically what we have here is prog/power metal band that follows a very similar formula to later FATES WARNING and DREAM THEATER. There is some great music throughout the disc, most notably the power riffing of guitarists Van Dyk and Bernie Versailles. The opening riffs of the first track "Threads" hit you in the face like a football on a cold day. The interplay between the guitarists is stellar and super-tasteful. Check out the solos in the songs "Parker's Eye's" and "Scarred". Versailles and Van Dyk answer one another like pros. There are also some badass percussion fills in "Scarred'' from drummer Chris Quirarte, not unlike some of the Latin percussion from SEPULTURA's 'Roots' album. Quirarte is top notch, and on "The Fullness of Time", he finds a way to be all over the place without ever losing it.

There are some spots where the record leaves me cold. The riffs and intros are absolutely crushing, but oftentimes Alder comes in with some of the most boring and lifeless vocal melodies I have ever heard in my life. It's like being fed an appetizer of some of the best gumbo, only to followed by a main coarse of stale bread. Alder actually kills the vibe on the majority of these tunes faster than James LaBraie at a MOTÖRHEAD gig. You'll find yourself longing for the vocals from the first ENGINE album, or classic FW songs like "Anarchy Divine" and "The Arena", as opposed to this whispery whiny thing that he seems to do all the time now. Obviously he has run out of ideas vocally, and has an annoying tendency to cram too many words into one vocal phrase. I shouldn't be too surprised because he does much of the same on the last FATES WARNING album 'X', which was fortunately was a strong enough album to overcome the weak vocal performance. This album really isn't.

Another major problem with this album is the lack of originality. For the most part sounds like a sub par FATES WARNING album. A lot of the chord progressions sound like they are lifted straight from Jim Matheos' unused demo tapes. Sadly, this is another band that really has no identity of it's own, right down to the mandatory and ever-present atmospheric keyboards. There is also the token twenty-some minute track broken up into several passages. I call it the 'epic syndrome', as the songwriter must feel the need to write a song that takes up half a record, as a testament to his genius status. The 16-minute "Sapphire" could easily have about 8 minutes trimmed from it as well. Overall, it's an album that may grow on you after multiple listens, but it really makes me appreciate my old MOTÖRHEAD and AC/DC records.

- Peters

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